Agencies
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday announced that the BJD will support the NDA candidate for the post of Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. Harivansh Narayan Singh, a first-term MP from the JD(U), is the NDA candidate. The post of the Deputy Chairperson has been vacant since July 1, following the tenure of Congress leader PJ Kurien from Kerala.

Making this announcement late Wednesday night after his return from Mumbai, Patnaik in Bhubaneswar said: “We will be supporting the JD(U) candidate… who is also the NDA candidate”. Patnaik also confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah had spoken to him earlier regarding the matter.
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On Tuesday, BJD confirmed that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had called Patnaik to request support for Singh. “Naveen Patnaik received a call from Nitish Kumar earlier in the day”, BJD spokesperson Dr Sasmit Patra said. “Kumar had supported BJD’s nominee for President P A Sangma in 2012. The Bihar CM now seeks support for the JD(U) party candidate to assume the post”.

Later, the BJD clarified that JD(U) had not supported Sangma.

Congress MP B K Hariprasad is the Opposition candidate. In a contest that is expected to be tight, BJD’s nine MPs in Rajya Sabha will be significant for the NDA